The days stretched into weeks and those weeks into months. Another October came and went in a blink with a twenty-second birthday. It grew colder outside and eventually, everyone had soon forgotten about the reactor meltdown at Praxis and Leviathan being found dead on a park bench. Cause of death was listed as internal bleeding and his body was considered a hazard due to how much radiation it was riddled with. A son returned home, silently, and sat with his family for several hours as they all mourned the loss of someone that had been gone to them for years already. The physical wounds left from the fight soon healed, hardly leaving a mark left; even on the city. Though the biggest mark was left as they finally got back the ashes and let them rest in an urn on a shelf. A mother lost her son, a wife lost her husband, and five children lost their father — it all hit harder as they sat his picture beside the large, decorative vase.
Eventually Tate listened to his father’s final words. Going to the old ice cream shop alone with a crowbar. Three hits into the wall and several duffel bags filled to the brim with stacks of twenties or hundreds came toppling out. It felt reminiscent of the money they’d stashed in the basement storage of their building, paying for Penelope and Emmalie’s healthcare fully in cash until they ran completely out. The amount there would pay for that three times over, along with giving all five of them college funds. They could all afford to have a car, paid for in full, just like Walter had promised. He sat on the dusty floor for a few hours, just counting the cash over and over in disbelief. Once he returned home, he kept quiet. Opening savings accounts for all of his siblings after dividing the money up evenly and slowly putting it all in, telling them about it when he had almost all of their shares into the accounts. Outwardly looking in it didn’t appear as if the family had come into any money. They were feasibly all set up for any life they wanted to start, at that point. With a reasonably sized fund for emergencies and medical bills as well.
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Giovanni did exactly what he told his father he would do. On Monday he went and spoke to his football coach. Forced into a press conference that he didn’t want to do, a video went viral of him saying, “Coach Keener, I quit.” Dropping football entirely and changing his college major right after, finally focusing on music production like he wanted to do all along. Rumors spread that he couldn’t handle the pressure, that he’d gotten back together with his celebrity ex girlfriend, and that he’d been seriously injured in the explosion at the dojo but refused to admit it. The truth was always far more simple than the elaborate conspiracy theories that the press spewed out, but Gio refused to feed into them. He avoided paparazzi for a while after that, trying his best to not be seen out anywhere. After a few weeks he was no longer the hot news.
Good news came in the form of Isaiah waking up. Out of his coma and with the devastating realization that his wife had possibly returned to Valhalla for good, along with hearing that Warmonger was still at large and Walter was dead. He didn’t speak for several weeks to anyone, even Giovanni. It took him watching videos from the night at Praxis, seeing how Tate and Tana risked their lives, before he finally began working on his physical therapy. Even though he may never walk again, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t still teach and mentor. There were plenty of kids out there that could still use his guidance, and Gio promised to be beside him through every second of it. There was less time for any budding relationship to continue to develop, but Tate and Gio tried to make time for it.
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Throwing herself into her life of fighting crime, Nia began to make a name for Total Eclipse. Quickly starting to catch up to Sentinel, she began to develop allies in places that most people only dreamed of. Leading the next generation of vigilantes by example, and as a team. It was more than just impressive, it was an accomplishment that didn’t go unnoticed. Her stepping up allowed Sentinel to take a backseat, which gave Gio more time to work with Isaiah. With her leadership and teaching skills, and his money, they managed to rebuild the dojo. Three times the size, doubling as a shelter as well, and Nia was the sensei until Isaiah could return.
With a program much bigger than the last, helping plenty of kids in need and offering larger scholarships. It was what Isaiah had dreamed of doing, accomplished by two of his students. They even chipped in and got him a new place, with Nia swearing that she would help him try to find a way to bring Myla back to them. On top of all this? She was willing to get Gio started in his music career, since outside of Total Eclipse Nia Davis was actually a rather well known R&B singer. It was promising and when he finally got a chance to sit down and create music, he was fantastic at it. On the side Nia was researching into The Silent with the plan of taking them down, no matter the cost.
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Tana had her own version of dealing with grief. Throwing fists with anyone she came across, no matter how petty the crime, and cutting crime rates in half again in their neighborhood. When she wasn’t fighting crime, however, she was causing it. Hotwiring cars and racing in them for extra cash. Anything to keep herself busy and her mind far away from everything that had happened that night at Praxis. She had never been one for meditation, but headbutting her way through things was exactly what she needed. Sometimes she joined up with Total Eclipse, working together as a near deadly duo.
Whenever she put on the Spitfire suit, new and improved again from Giovanni, she was determined to put Freight Train behind bars. Hot on his heels and making it impossible for him to have even a moment to plot anything. It led her into the deep spiral of the Clifford empire, but she was handling it well. Being careful around Freakshow and not wanting to wind up gutted in a sewer by the crazed, clown makeup wearing woman.
With Tate deciding to take a step back, again, from the hero's life it meant she felt responsible for keeping their family safe. Something that she happily picked back up and promised to handle carefully. Money no longer being one of their major concerns left a lot of time for all of them to focus on things that they never thought possible. For Tate, that was a journey into healing. For Tana, that was cracking more skulls.
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By the time snow came and melted, meaning the bitterly cold winter would soon be coming to an end, the case had gone cold itself. Martina Kilgrove went to trial and lied her way out of charges. Forcing people that sued her and her company to settle. Her partner, Stephan, was found carved into pieces and thrown into the bay. A classic Clifford special for traitors. Warmonger was completely in the wind, suspected to have fled the country. Any of The Silent that were arrested from that night all wound up dead inside their cells. Two smashed their own heads into a wall until they were completely deceased. The world moved on as the city and Praxis covered over the scars left.
Taking his share of the money and choosing to finally do something selfish, Tate had a fake ID and passport made. He took time off work after quitting one of his jobs, and bought a plane ticket for one of the places that Walter promised to take him to. Seeing South Korea was something he’d wanted to do, but he had plans of traveling to every single country that his father had ever spoken about. All he packed was a single bag, determined to not return home until he’d seen it all.
An hour before he had to board the plane he contacted one final person, asking to meet. He had no clue how long he would be gone for. If it would be weeks or even months, but he knew that he needed to see the person that had somehow managed to help keep him sane through everything. He could feel his stomach doing flips as he saw the sheepish little smile, unsure of exactly how this meeting was going to go. It hadn’t been a secret kept about the money, nor had it been a secret about wanting to travel. As kids they’d planned to one day do it together, to go see the world. One was still needed there, to keep helping Isaiah and the kids at the dojo that needed his guidance.
Giovanni could just… tell. He looked over Tate and then down to the bag he had resting on the ground beside his feet. The realization was all over his face and he frowned without noticing it. To him this was just one huge goodbye. So long and never see each other again, even though he knew that his friend would never leave his family like that. His anxiety was just ingrained, sad eyes growing nervous as he looked down and hesitated. So much he wanted to say caught in his throat, refusing to come out. Rather than wait for him to speak, Tate reached out and grabbed his face.
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“It’s not goodbye, G, but see you again soon.” He confirmed, closing the distance between them and placing a lingering kiss on his lips. Then they pulled apart from each other and rested their foreheads together, staying like that for several moments. “I promise.” Tate Crawford was not like his father, so when he promised something he was going to keep it. Giovanni would see the man again, and deep down he knew it. It didn’t stop him from wishing he could just drop everything and go, too. Though, he didn’t. Instead, he watched as the man he loved left to start on a journey that he needed to go on alone. Knowing that, even if Tate should return and want nothing to do with him anymore, it would be a good thing. Everyone deserves to heal, and everyone deserves the chance to take a proper break sometimes. That was even more true for Tate, Giovanni believed.
When they both parted, it was obviously an ending and a new beginning for the pair. Everyone had their own separate journeys to take, but that didn’t mean their paths wouldn’t continue to cross. There was still plenty of unfinished business, after all. New Elysium City never truly rested, nor did its inhabitants. New villains were always on the rise, or making their return.
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